


Closer Together...

by Digital_Night_Sky



Series: Roads That Lead to Nowhere [1]
Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Child Abuse (its not horrible i swear), Gen, Humor, Tom's childhood is traumatic tho, Tord's is too actually, basically the story of how they met :P, but they eventually get along, childhood AU, goes from elementary to middle school, i will probably edit these tags a lot, slight angst, they act older than they really are, they all have insecurities/low self-esteem, they're all so cute oml, tom & tord argue a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-12 23:42:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13558062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Digital_Night_Sky/pseuds/Digital_Night_Sky
Summary: How did Edd meet his friends? You'd be surprised.Matt stands up for Edd when he gets bullied.Edd witnesses Tom's dad get blown into smithereens by a bear.Tord is embarrassed and gets sweet, sweet revenge when Tom publicly announces his hentai obsession in class.And then the sleepover comes along. Uh oh.So, yeah. Everything's great.





	1. Reflections: Edd Meets Matt

**Author's Note:**

> So uh if ya can I would appreciate it if yall read the following statements (but you don't have to you can just read the chapter if ya want)  
> 1.) I purposely made a few changes to the character’s last names, mainly because I have respect for the real people (they are obviously not based off the creators)  
> 2.) This is the first fanfiction I plan to have more than just one chapter for, so please be patient! I’ll try to update every two or three days, but I have school and a job so I may have to take some extra time off if necessary. I’ll leave an author’s note so you guys know!  
> 3.) Because I’m nice, if the story gets decently popular or read often, I’ll allow you guys to give me suggestions and/or requests for the story! I already have a pretty planned-out idea as to what will happen but if I’m in a good mood (and I usually am) or get Writer’s Block i’ll probably add a special short in between every few chapters  
> Whew that was a lot  
> Okay anyways i think that covered everything up! Just a quick heads up the first part of the series will be Edd meeting his friends for the first time as kids, if you want to skip their childhood part then you can just skip to the second part (minor references will be made but they aren't very important)  
> Have fun reading <3

“Edd, sweetie? Could you go get the mail for me, please?” A feminine voice called from the kitchen, the smell of bacon and pancakes quickly swarming the entire house with a mouthwatering aroma that could make even the fullest of stomachs grumble in desire. “Edd?” She called again when she didn’t receive a reply.

Little did she know, the innocent child had been distracted, his eyes wide as he focused on the picture he drew at hand, his fingers trembling ever so slightly as he added every detail with great care. He leaped to attention, however, when he heard his name and the command that had been given to him.

“Oh! Sure thing, Mom!” A young and energetic voice replied happily, hopping up from his drawing desk and racing out the front door, practically skipping to the mailbox with a smile plastered on his face. Edward Bronze was such an obedient kid and rarely disrespected his parents - well, actually,  _ adopted _ parents.

Edd’s real parents died in a car accident when he was just two. They were on the way to work together, since they worked in the same place, and they usually left him with his babysitter until they came back. But one day, they never did - the authorities had to put poor Edd in an orphanage since there was no other family they could contact. Fortunately, a lovely couple adopted him less than a year later and they treated him like he was their own son. They were careful not to spoil him  _ too _ much, however - they’d already seen the result of letting children have their way, and it wasn’t pretty.

The result was across the street from their house - a joyful yet clumsy ginger named Matt.

Edd saw the boy as he opened the mailbox to do what his mother asked. As he was pulling out the snow-white envelopes, he heard a voice from a distance:

“Wow! This pond is just like a mirror! Look, Mommy!”

Edd’s ears perked up at the sound of another male voice, young and squeaky - probably around his age. He turned around to see the back of  a boy, who wore a light grey hoodie and a cap that barely managed to cover his ruffled orange locks. A taller figure with long hair, curves, and a hand holding his, possibly his mother, was crouched beside her son, gazing at their appearances.

“You’re right, Matt! The water’s so clear!” she cooed, like she was just as awed as her son was. Edd couldn’t help but stare at the two at they continued to admire their reflections. He had seen Matt before - Matthew Fredrick Blackwood, to be exact - in school. They had just started first grade last week, and he had always seen the ginger from a distance. He seemed to be very confident, a prominent grin engraved on his expression at all times, along with a mirror in his hand.

As outgoing as Edd was, he was shy. He loved talking, but he he didn’t know how to start a conversation - it was always another student that started the giggles and laughs. Matt was known by almost every student for his adorable looks, even for someone so young, so it wasn’t hard for him to make friends.

Edd wished he had Matt’s confidence. How did it do it? Maybe he was just born lucky.

The brunette snapped out of his thoughts when Matt’s voice broke through the air. “Mommy, look! That’s a boy I know from school! Hi, Edd!”

Edd felt fear shake in his stomach for the slightest moment - how long had he been staring? Did they notice? But he calmed quickly when he saw Matt and his mother waving, waiting for a response. He smiled and waved back. “Hi, Matt,” he replied bashfully, before quickly running back to his house. He placed the envelopes and letters on the dining table before rushing to the window, peeking through the blinds.

He waited.

He didn’t know what he was waiting for, exactly. The pair stood beside the pond a while longer, perhaps five minutes or so, before the mother picked up Matt, piggy-back style, and began to stroll back from wherever they came from. Edd watched them until they were completely gone from sight until he walked back outside.

He walked up to the pond, the same spot they were at cautiously, even though there was no danger around. Little Edd looked into the water - they were right. The water was as clear as glass. Edd stared into his own expression - how did it work? How could he see his own face with something as simple as a pond? He continued to stare - so this is what Matt was so awed about?

Edd found himself reaching out to his reflection, hand shaky, as his finger touched the center of his face. He blinked in surprise when little ripples, like circles, began to distort his face in the water.  _ This _ , he decided,  _ is pretty cool. _

“Edd! Breakfast is ready! Come inside so we can eat!”

Edd got up from his spot, dusting himself off, glancing at the pond one last time before heading back inside reluctantly. He would have to come back and visit himself soon.

 

 **.** **.** **.**

 

They had elementary school the next day. Edd enjoyed first grade and all the fun activities that came with it, but, as mentioned before, he was a tad shy. He sat quietly in the middle of the classroom, laughing at some of his classmate’s jokes from the sidelines but not really attempting to join in. They had a little bit of free time before the class began, since the teacher was running a bit late.

Edd took a glance at Matt, who sat five desks away from the brunette. Multiple kids were trying to talk to him and compliment his facial features, but he was too busy staring at himself in a mirror to acknowledge them. The green sweater-wearing child smiled at how oblivious the ginger was. Did he remember his reflection at the pond? Did he know that Edd knew about it too?

“Good morning, everyone!,” the teacher said cheerfully as she walked into the classroom.

“Good morning, Mrs. Bellum!” the kids replied in unison, scrambling to their correct seats. The teacher then proceeded to tell the students that they were going to start an art project, and that they had to be paired with a partner. “I will allow you all to choose who you want to draw with, so you can present your pictures more confidently for the Show-and-Tell,” the teacher said, “but, if anyone is behaving badly, they will be put in _ the corner.  _ Have fun, everyone!”

All the kids simultaneously got up from their desks and ran to their friends, laughs and giggles being shared while Edd looked around, silently freaking out. He didn’t have any true best friends yet - just a couple of acquaintances, who were being picked off of the “possible partner list” one by one.

He didn’t even bother to check out Matt - he was sure that the more admired boy had found a partner. He was shocked, however, when he saw Matt sitting alone, still checking out his face. Matt suddenly jumped in surprise when he remembered that he was supposed to find a partner.

“Oh yeah, I need to get a partner!” he said worriedly, looking around, realizing that almost everyone had been taken.

Edd, seeing the chance, cleared his throat and timidly made his way to Matt’s desk. “Hey, uh, I don’t have a partner either,” he said nervously. “Do you think we can - “

“Oh! Hey, Edd!” the ginger greeted excitedly, interrupting the brunette. “Do you wanna be partners? We can draw pictures of my face and show them off at Show-and-Tell!”

Edd’s eyes brightened. “Sure. Let’s sit at the table over there.”

Matt agreed and the pair sat together at the table, and soon they began drawing, crayons scattered across the wooden surface. Edd was actually okay with the idea of drawing Matt, although he wasn't quite sure why. He guessed it was because he had Drawer’s Block at the moment, plus Matt’s facial features were different. Instead of drawing a circle for a head, he had to incorporate some sort of rectangular shape, and his hair was interesting too - soon enough, a picture of Matt was standing proudly on a blank sheet of paper, organized black lines over a white canvas.

Matt happened to lean over Edd to see how is picture was doing - and his dramatic gasp almost made him jump. “That . . . looks . . . AMAZING!” he exclaimed, his deep-blue eyes sparkling as his jaw dropped.

Edd laughed shyly, rubbing the back of his head. “It’s not perfect, but I guess it’s alright - “

“It looks _ exactly like me,”  _ the ginger continued, his finger pointing at some of the details of the drawing. He was suddenly silent for a moment. “You know what this reminds me of? The pond that me and my mom were visiting yesterday. You were there, remember? I saw you!”

Edd was surprised that Matt remembered. Didn’t he have a tendency for forgetting things?

“It was so cool, how you can see yourself in the water,” he said. He was looking at the paper and seemed like he was talking to it, but Edd knew that he wasn’t. He was relieving the awe-inspiring moment of his reflection, clear as glass, in the water - Mother Nature’s gift to Matt.

Edd felt like Matt could talk about it for hours, but all too soon he stopped. “We should color this in!” he proclaimed, raising Edd’s drawing in the air as if it were a trophy.

The brunette could feel heat rush through his cheeks. “Well, uh - actually, my coloring isn’t the greatest . . . “ He was being truthful - as well as he could draw, he just couldn’t keep the colors in the right places. He assumed it was because he would rush the coloring part - he was excited to see the final outcome of his drawing, and while coloring was fun, it was exhilarating and it simply took too long. Edd needed to work on his patience a little more.

Matt, however, didn’t seem bothered at all. “That’s no problem! _ I  _ can do it! I  _ love _ coloring!”

Edd smiled, all feeling of nervousness gone, “Sure, you can do that.” He had to give Matt credit for  _ something _ , after all - and who knows? Maybe he knows how to color better than Edd.

While the ginger colored, the pair talked and laughed about cartoons, comics, and simple things that made Edd relax. He was always tense around other people, nervous to say something that would probably be boring and ruin the good mood - but Matt was a lot more laidback than he thought; they had a lot in common. However, the good mood was spoiled when three particular kids walked up to their table and surrounded Matt and Edd.

“Hey  _ losers _ ,” the tallest one sneered, his voice unnaturally deep for a 7-year old. He even had a growing mustache that couldn’t be explained by science alone.

“Eduardo,” Edd groaned, glaring at his rival doppelganger and his two friends, a blonde with a buttchin and a short, squinty-eyed boy. “What do you want now?”

Edd didn’t like picking fights, yet there was this boy always who always tried to start one, although he didn’t know why. “What didja draw?” Eduardo asked, ignoring Edd’s question as he snatched the paper from Matt’s hands. He had been oblivious of the tension, too busy focusing on coloring the drawing of himself, until it had been taken from him. “Hey! What’s your problem?”

He tried to reach to his drawing, but Eduardo passed it to Mark, who was too far from Matt to take. The three boys laughed at Edd’s drawing obnoxiously. “Wow, Edd! You got his square chin perfectly! Too bad you couldn’t add much detail to his IQ,” he added, making the squad laugh harder.

“I mean, seriously! You’re so bad at this you had to get an idiot to color for you! How pathetic!”

Edd blushed furiously, looking at the ground. What was he supposed to say to that? Coloring, and defending himself from insults, weren’t his strong suits.

But what hurt him the most was that he was too ashamed to stand up for Matt.

“Hey! Leave him alone! You’re just jealous!” Matt growled. Edd wasn’t sure if he was referring to them being jealous of Edd’s drawing or his chin, but either way, his fierce expression and the bite in his voice took Eduardo and his boys by surprise. They didn’t expect the ginger to stand up for anyone but himself.

“And I don’t know who you’re calling an idiot,” he continued, crossing his arms. “What did  _ you _ draw?” he asked suddenly, and he grabbed their drawing from Jon. A picture of Big Bird from Sesame Street had been drawn on the page, a smile beaming from his beak.

“Oh, so you like Sesame Street?” Matt asked, and Edd sensed that this wasn’t going to end well. “If ya like Sesame Street so much, you and your stupid friends can go to Oscar in the trash dump where you belong!”

Edd gasped quietly, awed at the justice that Matt had brought, but Jon gasped louder, his hand covering his mouth. Eduardo and Mark just stood there, frozen as the other surrounding kids who had heard the insult began to laugh. Matt smirked triumphantly, his arms crossed, with Edd hiding closely behind him.

It would have been such a glorious moment if Jon hadn’t began to cry.

His pathetic wails broke the classroom’s otherwise pleasant vibes. The teacher, hearing the desperate cries, immediately ran to the source of it. “What happened here, boys?” she asked when she them huddled at the table, a look of fear crossing their expressions.

Eduardo didn’t hesitate to speak up. “Edd and Matt took our picture and made fun of us!”

Edd’s eyes grew wide. “What? You took out picture fir - “

Matt intervened. “They made fun of us first!”

“I don’t like Sesame Street anymore,” Jon sobbed.

A heated argument broke out between the boys, and the teacher had no choice but to put all of them in Time-Out. Edd, Matt, Eduardo and his gang had no choice but to face the corner while the rest of the kids presented their drawings. When class was over, the kids raced out the door and to their parents who waited for their children outside. Others just simply walked home.

The teacher made the boys stay after. “Before you five leave,” she said sharply, “I want you boys to apologize to each other. Bullying isn’t the answer to our problems.”

Edd walked up to Eduardo, his gaze on the ground. “Sorry,” he mumbled. In a way, he was upset, because he didn’t really do anything to apologize about; Eduardo started the bullying, and Matt just retaliated.

Matt, however, didn’t make a move to say anything. He pouted angrily as he glared at the three. “Matt?” the teacher said. “Hmph! Sorry,” he grumbled.

“Sorry,” Eduardo, Mark, and Jon said together, not really meaning it.

“Good,” the teacher said, “you are dismissed. Be safe, boys!”

Edd sighed as he picked up his backpack, slumped it over his shoulder, and made his way outside. The day was beautiful, as always - another quiet, peaceful walk home for the brune -

“Hi, Edd!’’ Matt exclaimed suddenly, popping up next to Edd.

“Ah! Oh, hey, Matt,” Edd replied. “Aren’t you getting picked by - “

“I’m walking home from school today,” he said happily, beginning to walk beside Edd. “I wanted to go visit that pond again. You want to join me?”

Edd blinked. Did Matt - the lovable, admired, silly, ginger-haired boy with the cool facial features - invite him to do something together outside of school? That was a first. Did that mean they were friends?

“Oh! Uh, sure,” he replied, smiling. “Thanks for, uh, you know - putting Eduardo in his place. And coloring in that picture. It would’ve been fun to present.”

“Huh? Who?” Matt asked, rubbing his head. “Oh yeah, him. He deserved it. He can’t draw as good as you, that’s why he’s so grumpy. Oh, and, sorry for getting you in trouble,” he added sheepishly. “Guess that was my fault, huh? But I’ll make it up to you! Next time we draw together, I’ll draw a picture of you, even though it won’t come out as great as yours!”

Edd smiled, laughing. “Yeah. That’d be fun.”

That day, Matt and Edd hung out till the stars came up.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok i know this chapters long but ill try to make them shorter (unless yall like em long idk)  
> Also i wanted to give out shoutouts to people on Archive cuz these authors are lit  
> Todays shoutout goes to . . . Bunshin!!!! Yall should read her fanfic "Unexpected" it's SO GOOD  
> Thanks 4 being yourself fam ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟhave a great day/afternoon/night everyone!!!!
> 
> *if you have a request be free to leave a comment in any of my works and I’ll try hard to get it done! (please no furries/OCs/nsfw) any ship is welcome!!  
> ** if anyone wants to make fanart of anything I write I’m okay with that but all I ask is that you let me know, make sure you give me credit, and send me the link so I can see it!**


	2. You're Not a Monster: Edd Meets Tom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edd uses the power of 911 when he sees Tom's father get killed and offers a shoulder to cry on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The summary kinda lets you know that this chapter's gonna be a lil sad. Just a little :)

 

Edd and Matt hung out almost every day after that. Sometimes Matt would go over Edd’s house, or vice-versa. Edd had never gone over someone’s house before, and he was amazed by how big and glamorous Matt’s home was. Every wall was covered in a breathtaking shade of royal purple and Matt showed off his prized novelty collection. Everything looked incredibly expensive and fancy - the couches, the TV, the kitchen, his bed, and not to mention the countless pictures of his family members, all of them looking dashing and beautiful.

Matt and his family, Edd decided, must be rich.

But, as simple and and humble as Edd’s house was, Matt didn’t mind the place at all. In fact, he loved it. He pointed at every little thing and thought it was the best thing ever. “G A S P ! ! That calendar looks A M A Z I N G !! Where did you guys get it?! AND IS THAT A COMPUTER?!”

As far as the brunette could tell, Matt didn’t hang out with anyone else as much as he did with Edd. Matt was his only certified, official best friend . . . for now.

That was about to change.

It was another seemingly normal day for Edd. Matt didn’t come over today, so the child occupied himself with his drawings. Everything was going along fine, until a booming sound echoed throughout the neighborhood, making Edd jump in panic.

That sounded like a gunshot. And it sounded like it was close.

Edd, without a second thought for his safety, ran outside and looked around. He wasn’t sure what he expected to find, or why he decided to investigate in the first place; after all, he would only run if he saw someone holding a gun.

But he wasn’t expecting a bear holding a rifle when he turned to his right.

It was humongous, much larger and hairier than the cute cartoon bears that Edd had seen in picture books. As soon as the bear made eye contact with Edd, it dropped the rifle and ran away. Edd stood there, frozen in shock. Should he be scared? Should he go after it? He didn’t even know that bears lived in this area. What did it even shoot, anyway? And why? How did it even - 

Edd snapped out of his confused trance when he saw a boy in front of his pond. The boy looked around his age, and he was crying . . .  on his knees, holding something in his hands.

Edd gasped, bursting into full speed towards him. Did he get shot?

But, as he was about to reach the boy, something stopped him - a woman’s laugh. He looked to his left, and he saw . . . “Matt?”

Little Matt didn’t hear the brunette; his mother’s voice distracted him. She had picked him up in a motherly fashion, showering him with motherly love and saying something about a bear with a rifle and how she couldn’t stay mad at him.

Then they left, leaving the little boy alone at the pond to stare until he continued to cry.

_ What’s going on . . . ? _

“Hey, are you okay?” Edd asked, putting a hand on the boys shoulder. The child flinched and stared at him with a scared expression and wide -  **_woah_ ** .

Wide, black eyes.  _ Black eyes? _ He recognized the kid - it was Thomas Copper Hugh (everyone called him Tommy). He was in Edd and Matt’s first grade classes. They never really talked, for two reasons: 1.) Edd was shy, and 2.) Tommy didn’t talk much either. Plus, the boy was usually teased for his eyes, spiky hair, and his teddy bear that he always has in his hand, so he supposed that the boy was quiet as a result. The brunette never bullied - well, excluding that one time with Eduardo . . . didn’t it have to do with a drawing or something? He couldn’t remember.

Anyway, he noticed something in little Tommy’s hands and lap that stained his clothes - pineapple pieces that Edd assumed was shot by the bear with a rifle. A pair of broken glasses laid by the ground as well. _ Is Tommy crying over a pineapple? _

Tommy sniffed and looked at Edd, and he could see the gears grinding in his head. Why was Edd here? They never interacted much, both in and out of school. No one besides his parents showed this much concern for him. Should he trust him?

“That . . . *sniff* that boy . . . *sob* he gave that bear a gun and it  _ shot my dad _ !”

“It . . . shot your dad? That pineapple?” Edd asked, and Tommy began to cry louder. “Please, do something! Bring him back! I want my mommy!”

Should he call 911? His mom told him to call it if there was ever an emergency, and this definitely seemed like something serious. “Uh, st-stay right here! I - I’ll be right back, I’ll get help!”

He scrambled back to his house, Tommy’s wails echoing in the background as he yanked the telephone sitting on the desk and dialed 911. “Uh, hi, there’s a boy crying in front of my house, his dad got shot . . . by a bear . . . no, that’s what he told me . . . (insert random address here) . . . “

So the police and the ambulance showed up, around ten minutes later. They seemed a little annoyed and distraught by the fact that the supposed father that got shot was actually a pineapple, but had sympathy on the crying Tom. They offered to contact his mother and take him home, and they tried to distract his sadness with simple questions, like what his favorite color was and such.

Edd watched Tommy talk to the officers from afar, not really wanting to intervene - although he thought that police officers and paramedics were cool, he didn’t want to somehow get blamed or get involved in some sort of problem. However, he heard one of the police officers ask Tommy, “Do you know who called 911?”

Tommy nodded and pointed at Edd. “Yeah, that boy over there. His name is Edd.”

The brunette’s heart began to pound as the officer walked up to him, with Tommy close behind. “Are you Edd, son? You’re the one who called us?”

Edd gulped, said yes, and began to explain what happened in his perspective. The officer wrote things down, and when he finished, he put the pen in his pocket and smiled, making Edd relax a little. “Thanks, kid. You did a good thing calling us. We’re going to have to track down that bear and the woman with the boy that was there earlier.”

He walked away to the other police officers, leaving Edd and Tommy alone. Tommy kept his gaze on the ground, holding back tears. “Is everything okay?” Edd asked the shorter boy.

Tommy’s head shot up, forgetting that Edd was there, “Uh, yeah, I guess. But . . . I want my dad back . . . “ and he suddenly began to bawl. Edd, taken by surprise, hugged the crying child and let him cry until he couldn’t cry anymore.

“Thanks, Edd . . . “ he mumbled into his shoulder.

Edd smiled. “Sure thing, Tommy.”

**.** **.** **.**

They had school the next day. Matt was absent because he had to go to court with his mom after the “incident” yesterday, so Edd sat quietly at his desk, doodling while the teacher talked. The bell finally rang, and instantly every kid jumped from their desks, grabbed their belongings, and ran out the door.

Except for one.

Edd had just walked out the door and was about to head outside until he heard some commotion going on behind him. “Give him back!”

“Whaddya gonna do about it?” a snotty voice asked, and when Edd turned around he saw two boys surrounding Tommy. One of them was holding a teddy bear with a unibrow.

Tommy, needless to say, looked pissed. He jumped as high as he could, trying to reach his cherished possession, but to no avail - the bully was just too tall and his arm was too long as it held the stuffed animal in the air.

Although the shorter boy was angry, Edd could see tears in his eyes. How long had he been going through this bullying? And when did anyone plan to intervene? Edd, feeling an inch of bravery rise in his stomach, walked up the bully with Tommee Bear and snatched it out his hand.

“Leave him alone,” he snarled, remembering Matt’s puffed up chest and authoritative voice when he stood up for Edd. He handed the teddy bear to Tommy and glared at them.

One of the boys looked a little scared, but the other one just laughed. “Fine, hang out with the big, black-eyed freak if ya want. Just be careful, he’s a monster..”

Edd calmly grabbed Tommy’s hand and began to lead him outside, to his route home. Tommy, surprised by the sudden gesture, followed meekly, stumbling a few times before keeping a steady pace. “Don’t call him that,” Edd muttered. They began to walk beside each other, and Edd let Tommy’s hand go when he knew that they were out of sight.

“I’m telling’ ya!” the kid yelled after him, his voice actually sounding kind of serious. “I saw him with horns and a big, black tail and claws - “

“I  _ said _ , don’t call him that!” Edd huffed in annoyance and continued to walk, not even bothering to turn around.

“ . . . Edd? Do you think I’m a monster?”

“Of course not, Tommy. You’re my friend. And I think your eyes are cool.”

Tommy blinked. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Edd turned to face Tommy and smiled sincerely - it wasn’t a mean smirk or a threatening, teasing sneer - it was genuine, kind, something that Tommy had never seen in the eyes of a student before.

Tommy smiled at the word. “Friend . . . “

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Tom, why are we so mean to him lol  
> Next chapter's gonna be all about Tord  
> Todays shoutout goes to . . . xXCorruptedBlueXx!! They wrote a collection of TomTord Oneshots that areSUPER good  
> If ur into angst and fluff and gay you should definitely check them out :)
> 
> *If anyone has a request let me know in the comment section and ill try to get them done as soon as possible! Any ship is welcome but plz no furries/OCs/nsfw (i'm still trying to gather up the courage to do that im sorry) plz leave a somewhat short description on what you want the story to be about*  
> **Also if anyone wants to make fanart of whatever i write i don't mind but all i ask is that you give the credit to the author (which would be me) and send me the link so I can see it!**


	3. Nothing's Fair: Tord's Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tord's father's expectations are too high. He's abusive. Neglectant. Tord's only comfort in their tension-filled home is his older brother Travis.  
> Too bad their mother decided to send Tord off to England.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like angst, you're gonna like this chapter :)

“You spoil him too much!” the man snarled, repeating the sentence for at least the fifth time this week. The woman he married glared at him with no hint of fear - and if she did have any, she didn’t show it. “He’s only ten, Jeremy! I’m not spoiling him! Why are you always so negative towards your children?!”

Tord sat in the living room, trying to block out the shouting from his mind. He knew they were fighting about him. That’s all they ever fought about, yet he wasn’t sure why. As far as he was concerned, he didn’t do anything extremely bad that resulted in these weekly arguments . . .

Okay, so maybe bringing a gun to school for Show & Tell wasn’t the _smartest_ thing to do. But the teacher had told the class to bring something special to them, didn’t she? And his father always left his prized rifle hanging on the living room wall . . .

He grabbed a pillow and held onto it tightly.

His mother had tried explaining it multiple times, but it just didn’t click to him. “Your father doesn’t hate you,” she had told him one time, when he asked why his dad was so mean to him. “We want the best for you, Tord. He doesn’t want you to get hurt in the future, so he’s trying to make you strong now so you don’t have to suffer later.”

In a way, that was only partially true. Tord’s dad wanted his kids to do great things. He didn’t want his son to just be another average kid in an average world and live an average life - their family had too many merciful and boring people in their generation. His father needed to change that.

He wouldn’t allow Tord to play with the other neighborhood kids in Norway. He forced him to read books about mechanics and the army to gain intellect instead. If he asked for something as simple as an ice cream cone, his father would scowl and say that he had been spoiled.

Tord received at least two black eyes in his childhood and multiple bruises from his father for the most trivial of things, like staying up too late or begging to watch TV. He didn't want to call his dad abusive though. He hated that word, although that was what his father was. It made Tord sound so weak and helpless, like he was emotionally hurt and needed a pity party.

Tord tried to convince himself that he was fine. He didn't want a pity party and didn't need one either.

The only person that kept him going was his older brother Travis. It comforted him to know that he wasn’t the only one who felt hurt on a daily basis. Whenever their parents started to fight, they would sneak upstairs and into one of the rooms to talk about it. “Okay, who asked for ice cream this time?” Travis asked him as he walked into his bedroom.

“Not me,” Tord said, raising his hands up defensively. He looked a lot like his brother, but Travis just a little taller and more built. He had a bandage patched over his eyebrow, another little gift that their father had left him.

Tord sighed. “They’re fighting over me again. I’m sure you already know what happened.”

Travis frowned. They didn’t even bother to tell him about the Show & Tell incident. He had heard enough screaming to know. Tord’s hand ran over the fresh bruise he had gotten from his father as a result for it. It wasn’t fair. Why did everyone else’s parents seem so kind, while his seemed almost heartless?

He began to tear up. Because of his dad’s mistreatment, Tord had grown up to be a bit rowdy - he grew an unhealthy passion for guns, and found ways to get into an adult store to read “comic books.” But no matter how big and bad he thought he was, he was a marshmallow around his brother. He respected Travis. He was the only person he respected nowadays, the only person he could tell the truth to with no fear.

“I hate this place,” he muttered, a single tear running down his cheek. “I thought he wanted us to be tough. Are we not good enough, Travis?”

“Don’t say that, Tord,” Travis said, giving his younger brother a gentle punch to the arm. “I’ve always thought you were pretty cool. You’ve already done things that I wouldn’t have even considered doing. You’re a badass. Be proud of it.”

Tord sniffed and smiled at his beloved brother. “Thanks, brother.”

 

 **.** **.** **.**

 

“We’re getting divorced,” his mother told the two brothers when the father had raged out of the house after another fight.

“Wait - what? No! Why?” Travis asked, both scared and pissed off, but Tord stood silent, frozen in shock. They already knew why - their father was a terrible influence to the both of them. It just wasn’t safe anymore.

“It’s for the best, kids. You’re father started drinking and he threatened to harm me and you kids. I’ve decided to have Travis stay with me. Tord, you’re going to be living with your aunt and her husband in England - “

“Y - You want to send me to England? Mom, what the hell?! Are you fu -” He felt a literal panic attack coming on.

“Tord, watch your language!” she scolded, although she knew that he had every right to be mad. “You’ve been behaving terribly for the past few years, and we’ve decided it’s because you’re not happy here, so a change of scenery would be the best for you!”

Tord gulped, tears pooling in his eyes again, but he refused to cry. “You . . . You’re worse than Dad,” he growled, glaring at her. “You know what? I’m happy that I’m leaving! I don’t have to live in this hellhole anymore!”

The lie rolled off his tongue and into the air like a vapor, eventually fading away like it has never been said. Tord felt like he was suffocating. He needed to breath. He ran to his room and struggled to open the door knob. Why were his hands so sweaty?

He managed to get into his room, slam the door, and start pacing. God, he was hot. His face felt like it was on fire. He felt like someone shoved a knife in his guts. He began to whimper pathetically, one hand running through his thick caramel hair while another one covered his face, even though no one else was in the room.

_They don’t love you. You’ll never be normal. You’ll never see your brother again. It’s your fault their splitting up. You’re a bad kid, remember?_

_Sadistic._

_Pathetic._

_Stupid._

A light, cool breeze from his open window swept by his burning face. It calmed him down, and his sobs soon faded to deep breaths. How? How could they split him from Travis? How are they going to send him to another country and disown him like this?

He gulped, shivering, and rolled up his sleeve, revealing the bruise he had on his arm. An image of his drunken father flashed in mind, and Tord scowled at the thought.

He would not let his father get to him like that. He will never break down like this.

Never, ever again.

 

 **.** **.** **.**

 

A month or two later, everyone stood outside the house, and Tord standing in front of a car that would take him to an airport. Tord stared at his brother, and Travis stared at his, until they embraced for what seemed like an eternity.

“Please, come with me,” Tord begged, his voice cracking into his brother’s shoulder.

“You know I can’t,” he whispered, so their parents couldn’t hear.. “But I swear, I’ll text you every single day, I promise. You’d better respond, you hear me?” Tord and his brother both had phones that they stole from a store. Their parents didn’t know about them. They weren’t the expensive ones, but they were definitely something.

He refused to look at his parents when he left. He didn’t know if they were disappointed him, or if he was disappointed in them, but if his father really wanted his son to be tough, then that’s what Tord would be. One day his father will wish he could take those words back.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day?? Jeez what am I doing  
> I had fun writing this, sorry Tord  
> Next chapter will be lighthearted though I promise, see yall next time ;)
> 
> Oh and btw i've been writing this fanfic on my school laptop (since my computer hasn't been working)  
> And my school tends to block a lot of websites for no apparent reason  
> So if i don't update this story for like a week or more without warning you know why  
> But that won't mean I won't continue the fanfic ill have to ride my ass to the library and use their computers there :P  
> plz pray that won't happen tho cuz my bike broke too and i gotta buy a new one ;-;
> 
>  
> 
> Oops i ranted


	4. First Impressions: Edd Meets Tord

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom comes to school a lil tipsy, and it just so happens to be the day that Tord starts his first day of school in England.  
> Edd's fine with the idea of being Tord's friend, but if there's anything that anyone should know about Tom . . . it's that he is NEVER in a good mood during a hangover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol Tom has no idea that Tord is gonna play a *very* important part of his story <3  
> Also I apologize this chapter's pretty long, oops

They didn’t meet Tord until he started seventh grade. After Edd became friends with Tommy and Matt, they hung out together constantly, both inside and outside of school.

Tommy, who now prefered to be called Tom (Tommy was starting to sound a bit childish), only became friends with Matt because he was Edd’s friend - otherwise, he held a grudge against the ginger for being responsible of his father’s death. Edd had to stop Tom from leaping on Matt when Edd introduced the two for the first time.

Deep down, however, Tom knew that it wasn’t entirely Matt’s fault - after all, he was just a kid, and he wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger. But that didn’t mean he forgave Matt altogether, but he tolerated him.

“He’s funny, too,” Edd added as he and Tom walked to their next class together. They had been talking about it for quite a while. Tom couldn’t disagree - Matt could be a dunce, and he had made Tom laugh on more than one occasion. He was secretly grateful for Edd and Matt, since they were the only two real friends he’s ever had so far.

But, everyone had their way of coping when it came to the death of a loved one - most people sobbed their sorrows away - but Tom vented out his anger instead. “Yeah, but that can’t bring my dad back,” he said bitterly.

But, bless the brunette, Edd understood completely, and had no problem listening as Tom continued to rant until tears formed in the corners of his black eyes. Edd smiled sadly as he wrapped an arm around Tom’s shoulders. “It’ll be alright, Tom. We’re here for you.”

He sniffed and quickly brushed his tears away before anyone could notice. “Thanks, Edd.”

Edd was totally unaware of the fact that Tom was a little drunk. Just a little.

 **.** **.** **.**

 

They strolled into their first period, which was History. Edd and Tom took their seats and pulled out their notebooks, expecting the teacher to tell them to write something down, but instead she stood in front of the classroom and made an announcement.

“Okay, kids, today we’ll be having our very first foreign exchange student joining us today. Please be welcoming and polite - “

“Where are they from?” someone asked.

“Oh, I believe they said Norway . . . “ the teacher said.

“Ugh, great,” Tom muttered, his head falling into his the palm of his hand with disinterest. Just another kid to make fun of him about his eyes. Or his hair. Or his teddy bear that he still carries around in his book bag. Or about that fact that he only socializes with only two people, out of the entire school.

“Aww, c’mon, Tom,” Edd said, playfully punching him. “Don’t be such a downer. Who knows? They might be interesting to talk to!”

Someone that Tom didn’t recognize walked into the classroom as soon as Edd finished his sentence. The classroom fell silent as the boy looked around silently with a look of uncertainty, until he finally said, “Hello, is this room 174?”

 _What a heavy accent,_ Tom noted as he couldn’t help but notice the rather unusual features of the Norwegian kid. Did he gel his hair that way, or was it naturally shaped like horns? And his eyes; they were an unnaturally bright silver, making his small black pupils more pronounced and ominous. He also had a bandage on his left cheek - _Damn, what did_ **_this_ ** _kid go through? He looks like he’s part wolf or something._

“Oh, this is him!” the teacher said happily. “Everyone, meet Tord Nelson. You can take a seat anywhere you’d like, sweetie.”

Tom watched as Tord looked around. There were a couple of empty desks to choose from. Tom was convinced that Tord wouldn’t sit at the desk between him and Edd. The Norwegian’s eyes landed on Tom’s black ones, and he froze. But instead of looking freaked out, he seemed almost . . . curious. Interested. _There’s no way he’s actually planning to -_

Tom’s heart pounded as he walked towards the desk between Tom and Edd, sitting down wordlessly as he set his book bag beside Tom’s.

Everyone instantly began to whisper and murmur among themselves:

_“He’s cute. Look at his eyes ~”_

_“He looks like someone who’d set the school on fire.”_

_“He sat next to_ **_Tom_ ** _? The kid with the black eyes and daggers for hair?”_

God, how stupid could his classmates get? He scoffed at their remarks as he lowered his head on his desk. Hopefully he could catch up on some sleep and ignore the nonsense.

 **.** **.** **.**

When Tord moved to England, he had to learn some basic English before he could go to school. His aunt and her husband encouraged him to go out there and “make some friends,” but there was a little, tiny-whiny, teensy-weensy problem - he has never had not one friend in his entire ten years of his life. His father had pretty much isolated him from communicating with anyone else during the time he spent in Norway, so he had no idea how to start a conversation; especially now that he was obligated to learn a new language.

Another thing that bothered him was that he had always been told to be independent, and that having too close of a bond with someone would make him weak. And he didn’t want to be weak.

But now the teacher had given him the choice to sit wherever the hell he wanted, and he hated decisions like that. Just assign him a seat so he doesn’t have to think about it, dammit. Was that so hard? He looked around with uncertainty, hoping he wouldn’t make the wrong choice of sitting next to someone who would make his life a living hell.

Tord couldn’t help but notice the kid with black eyes. He wasn’t sure if the kid was blind, if the kid even _had_ eyes, or if his eyes were naturally black - but, in a way, although he was a little weirded out by them, he thought they were actually looked pretty cool. They definitely stood out from everyone else’s. There was an empty desk between him and another kid who wore a green T-shirt and looked at Tord curiously.

 _Eh, guess I gotta start somewhere,_ he concluded, making his way to the empty desk and taking a seat. The kid with the green T-shirt and bangs greeted him eagerly.

“Hi Tord! My name’s Edd!”

 _Crap, what do I say? How do I respond to that in English again?_ “Uh . . . nice to meet you?”

Edd’s smile assured him that he had said the right words. _Damn, this isn’t easy._

The kid with the black eyes and spiky hair groaned with disinterest, burying his head in his arms as if he were getting ready to take a nap. Needless to say, he didn’t look too happy.

“That’s my friend, Tom,” Edd said when he noticed the Norwegian staring at him. “He’s sleeps a lot in class. He can be a bit moody, but he’s a cool dude once you get to know him.”

“Tom?” Tord said. _So that was his name._ “And you’re Edd.” _Tom and Edd_ . Okay, he started somewhere, at least. The kid named Edd seemed friendly enough, but he had a bad feeling that Tom wouldn’t be as courteous, judging from Edd’s words: _He can be a bit moody._

Was that supposed to be a warning or something?

“Dette kommer til å bli morsomt . . . “ he muttered under his breath.

 **.** **.** **.**

Tom decided pretty quickly that he didn’t like Tord. He tried reasoning in his head, trying hard to take heed to Edd’s advice and give this boy a chance - but no, Tom’s mind was far too stubborn to accept the fact that Tord did nothing to Tom for him to feel such execration towards the Norwegian. He figured that he didn’t like him because of the attention that Tom didn’t want; after all, sitting next to the “black-eyed kid with daggers for hair” was enough to make the gossip of the school last about a week or two.

But, truthfully, Tom wondered if Tord could be a possible friend. He knew what it was like to be lonely, to feel left out - he’d been dealing with practical solitude since kindergarten. He probably would’ve still been lonely if it weren’t for Edd and Matt, and the brunette was still trying to be friendly by introducing the new kid. Perhaps Tom could push aside his headstrong attitude and relate to Tord . . . ?

 _No_ , Tom’s conscious said, mentally smacking the boy upside the head. _Don’t let your guard down again. He’ll end up turning everyone against you. See? Look at how he’s buttering up Edd! He’s doing it to piss you off!_

Oh, yeah. Did he forget to mention that the teacher put the class into pairs for a project? Tom usually worked with Edd, but _no_ , the teacher decided to make his life even more unbearable by pairing up his only friend, excluding Matt, with the new kid. Tom had been forced to work with some geek who’d been wearing the same shirt for a week straight.

Little did anyone know, Tom had began to drink alcohol at a young age. He had walked past a bum the other night, and the bum had offered the young Brit a drink that took away anyone’s pain in exchange for a couple of dollars. Needless to say, Tom was feeling emotional pain all the time and had no regrets getting hooked on the beverage. He would take a gulp or two of vodka every morning before going to school - this is why he was always so tired, so grumpy, and sometimes emotional . . . or just flatout happy. He was unpredictable.

Edd had been pestering Tord with questions about his country for forever, and Tord responded with short answers. Tom assumed that Tord couldn’t speak really fluent English yet, judging from his word choice. There was no other way to say it - Tom was becoming a little, _just a little_ , jealous of how fond Edd was getting with Tord as they worked together.

“Woah, I didn’t know you could draw, Tord!” he heard Edd say three desks behind him. “But why isn’t the girl wearing any clothes?”

Tom wasn’t sure if he snorted because he was drunk, because of Edd’s innocence or the fact that Tord had been caught drawing porn. He tried hard to hold back is laughs so he could hear the Norwegian’s answer.

Tord sounded nervous. “Oh, uh . . . thanks. It’s, uh, a pretty common thing to do in Norway - “

Tom lost it. His mouth released a sputtering sound before he exploded with laughter, banging his fist on his desk while everyone stared. Apparently no one else had been listening to Tord being exposed, but Tom didn’t care. Tord turned and looked at the laughing Brit, his face flushed with a bright red color.

“‘A common thing to do in Norway’?!“ Tom laughed, wiping tears from his eyes. He looked over Tord’s shoulder to see if there really was a naked girl drawn on a paper - and alas, there she was, a girl with big, sparkly eyes with big, blonde ponytails and big, large boobs.

Tom laughed harder, pointing at the picture, making Tord cover it with his hands frantically, glaring at Tom and blushing with embarrassment. The only person that he didn’t mind knowing about it was his brother Travis. Otherwise, it wasn’t for anyone else to see; he enjoyed reading hentai because of the art style . . .  and yes, the boobs.

Tom was going to pay for that.

However, Tord had vowed that he wouldn’t do anything _too_ violent when he started his new life in England, so he couldn’t just shoot the kid (as tempting as that sounded). No one announced Tord’s business without getting punished. Tord saw an opportunity in the corner of his eye as he saw the teacher, typing something on her computer, oblivious to what was going on.

“Teacher!” he cried, pretending to sound like he was close to tears. “Tom is bullying me!”

At this, Tom ceased his laughing, and his expression changed drastically. Tord almost laughed at the transition. _This ought to be fun._

The teacher looked up from her computer and made a serious look. The new student, already being made fun of? “What happened, Tord?”

“Tom said my drawings are bad!” he whined, inwardly cracking up.

“What? That’s . . . that’s not true!” Tom pleaded, his words slurring. “You’re seriously gonna believe him? He just . . . (burp) showed up an hour ago! How are you gonna believe in a kid that doesn’t even know how to speak good English over someone who’s been coming here for years?!”

Everyone in the classroom gasped. “Tom!” Edd said, both shocked and upset. No one was aware that Tom was just simply drunk.

Except for one. Tord’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, but not from the insult he had received - something about Tom’s speech caught his attention, but it left as soon as it arrived.

“Thomas!” The teacher scolded. “I’m so disappointed in you! We’re supposed to be nice to Tord, not push him down! And don’t point him out for not being able to speak good English! He’s doing better than he’d been expected of! You’re going to have to get a lunch detention during school tomorrow.”

“Huh?” Tom said, horrified, cleary understanding the teacher although he was having a slight hangover. He couldn’t believe how wrong his day was going. The bell rang just then, and everyone grabbed their bookbags began to leave the classroom, whispering to one another about Tom and the new kid.

Tom inwardly seethed with anger as he held back with Edd, putting his notebooks in his book bag. Tord walked past him slowly, and he knew Tom was staring at him.

“Have fun at lunch tomorrow,” Tord said coolly, giving Tom a sly smirk before slipping out the door. Tom opened his mouth and furrowed his eyebrows as if he were about to spew out angry words, but hand on his shoulder stopped him from going after Tord.

“Just forget it, Tom.” Edd’s voice, calm and concerned, reached Tom’s ears and made him calm down himself. _He’s right,_ he reasoned. _I don’t need to get into anymore trouble. Mom will already be upset if she’s notified about what happened today._

 **.** **.** **.**

Edd and Tom didn’t have classes together for the rest of the day, unless you included the lunch period. Tord, however, was in Edd’s second period class as well: Science.

The same thing that happened in first period happened in second period - Tord was introduced to the class, told to take a seat wherever he wished, and he chose to sit next to Edd. He had already started to take a liking to the boy, as much as he didn’t want to admit it. It was almost scary, how comfortable he was already getting with the concept of school and socializing with other people. Edd was the only kid that made an effort to talk to him without looking at him like he had seven heads, and seemed decently accepting.

And he the only one who hadn’t laughed at his hentai fanart. _Velsigne sin sjel, han er så uskyldig._

Since in Science class the teacher did nothing but throw easy assignments to the students and watch _Fifty Shades of Gray_ for the rest of the period, Edd and Tord finished it with ease and began to talk. For a while they talked about Edd’s future as an animator and Tord’s dream as an inventor. His father made him read books about technology and armies and whatever - they all seemed cool, but since Tord was trying to get the whole “violence” part out of the way, he figured that making things was cool enough.

However, Edd had dropped a bomb on their otherwise pleasant conversation. “Hey, before I forget, I just wanted to say sorry . . . “

Tord was confused. “Hmm? What for?”

“For, uh . . . My friend, Tom. From earlier, remember? First period?”

Oh. Him. “Oh, eh . . . That’s okay, Edd. It wasn’t your fault,” he said, waving it off, but in a way he knew that it _was_ technically his fault. Tom wouldn’t have said anything if Edd had kept it to himself, but Tord knew he meant no harm.

“No, but seriously. I dunno why but lately he’s been acting . . . weird. And don’t get me wrong, cuz Matt, Tom and I are all weird, and being weird is okay, but it’s just - he’s been getting really emotional and sensitive, and I have no idea why. Plus he’s kind of an introvert so he’s not used to meeting new people so I guess he just took offense to you sitting next to him - “

“Edd, don’t worry about it,” Tord said, chuckling at Edd’s worrisome expression. “Maybe we’ll become . . . _friends_ , sooner or later. We all have our bad days, no?”

Tord inwardly cringed. Why the hell was the acting so sincere? His brother would’ve laughed at him if he saw him acting so soft. It was probably because he didn’t like seeing Edd look so anxious over something as simple as his friend not liking another friend.

Edd seemed to cheer up at the Norwegian’s statement, though. “I hope so.”

Although, there was something that concerned Tord. Unlike anyone else, he had noticed Tom’s somewhat strange behavior as he had tried to defend himself while the teacher yelled at him. His speech had changed . . . somehow, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

Tord’s eyes suddenly went wide. He remembered how his father talked like that when he was drunk. How his attitude went darker and darker with each gulp . . .

Was Tom . . . Was Tom _drunk_ earlier?

He recognized it. The faint smell of vodka as he walked past Tom. _Have fun at lunch tomorrow._ He knew he smelled something!

“Tord? You okay?” Edd’s voice broke his thoughts, and Tord blinked.

“Uhh . . . I - yeah, I’m good, Edd,” he said. He wouldn’t tell Edd.

At least, not yet.

The rest of the day passed by pretty quickly, and soon Tord swung his bookbag over his shoulder and walked out the exit of the school. His mind had been running with everything that had happened today; his first day of school was officially over and had started out dramatically, judging from Tom’s actions from earlier. He hadn’t seen the Brit since.

He heard a joyful laugh in the distance, and saw Edd walking along with two more people. One of them was someone he didn’t know; he had ginger hair and a grey sweatshirt. The other one was Tom, who seemed to be in a better mood than first period’s. Edd saw Tord and waved, and Tord made a small smile and waved back. Tom saw Tord, shoved his hands in his pocket, and rolled his nonexistent eyes before looking at the ground.

He couldn’t get the possibility of Tom getting drunk out of his mind. The only reason why Tord wasn't drinking and smoking on a daily basis was out of respect of his brother Travis. The idea of smoking and drinking appealed to him, and he definitely had plans to get involved with it in the future - hell, he would've started doing them now if he had the chance. But Travis told him not to, not until he started at least high school. Besides, his dad would have killed him if he got suspended or sent home for possessing drugs.

But how could both Edd and Matt _not_ notice Tom's obvious hints before? Should he say something to them?

_No, that’ll just get Tom angrier. I don't even know them that well to do so anyways. Just wait until the right moment comes._

But Tord was worried. He wondered how he felt about Tom. Should he be angry at Tom for embarrassing like that, or was he just drunk and insecure and decided to point everyone’s attention to the “new kid,” rather than on himself? If that were true, he almost felt kinda bad for the brit.

But he knew, deep down, that Tom could be a good kid. He didn’t want the possibility of a good kid to waste like his father had because of alcohol.

But he needed to lay down his legacy now. No longer would anyone consider him as weak. Tord will make friends, but only so he wouldn't look like a lonely-ass freak. Besides, they could actually help him - he wasn’t sure how, but he was sure they would make some sort of good use to him somehow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well there ya go, the chapter that I re-wrote five times cuz i had a weird vibe about it :P  
> i still feel like there's something missing/wrong but idk what it could be, lol i guess ill reread it and fix it  
> Today's shoutout goes to . . . screamingmatt!! who wrote a really really good but really really sad TomTord fanfic told through emails (the series is called "a shot of depresso in the form of emails")  
> until next time, my beautiful readers ~


	5. Sleepover @ Edd's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so quick note, i couldn't come up with a good title for a shooting game so i just wrote "blank"  
> IF SOMEONE WOULD LIKE TO GIVE ME SUGGESTIONS FOR A SHOOTING GAME TITLE THAT'D BE GREAT OR IT'S STAYING AS BLANK

**_Two years later . . ._ **

 

Edd, Tom, and Matt walked out of their middle school one last time, laughing and clutching onto their graduation certificates with big smiles on their faces - even Tom was in a considerably good mood. Graduating from middle school was a pretty big step for them; no longer would they have to see their infamous unliked teachers, and hopefully in high school they won’t have to share the same classes as Eduardo, Jon and Mark.

“God, I’m so happy to get out of there,” Edd said, even though in reality he would miss this school. Their art club was really fun and he was every teacher’s pet. “I’m gonna miss it, though.”

“I’m not!” Matt said, flicking a stray “strawberry-blonde” hair from his face. “The bathroom mirrors there were always filthy! Maybe the high school mirrors will be cleaner so I can see my face all the time!”

Tom rolled his nonexistent eyes at the two, but smiled anyway. “You guys know we still have, like, four years of school left, right? We’re still going to get tons of homework and new teachers for us to hate.”

“Yeah,” Edd said, disappointed in humanity for torturing students in such a way, and Matt just moaned and pouted. “But who cares? The only thing on my mind is the sleepover we’re having tonight!”

The three boys cheered at they made their way to Edd’s house. What could be a better way to celebrate graduation night than to crash at your bro’s place, stuff yourself with food, and binge-watch every movie of their favorite series?

Edd cleared his throat as he nudged Tom’s shoulder. “Hey, uh, I forgot to tell you . . . “

“Hmm?” Tom hummed questioningly. Edd almost looked guilty. Why?

“I invited Tord to the sleepover. I hope you don’t mind.”

Tom’s expression went blank. His immediate reaction would have been to snap, to ask Edd why he would invite Tord  _ of all people _ to a sleepover when he knew he and Tord weren’t friends. But, then again, he didn’t want to spoil Edd’s joyful mood - after all, he was the host of the sleepover (so he could invite Hitler himself if he wanted to), and it was graduation night. “Nah, I don’t mind, Edd. Just . . . don’t expect me to be all courtesy and whatever. You and I both remember what happened in fifth grade.”

Edd chuckled. “Yeah, I do. But, please, try to be nice.”

_ I’m not gonna promise that, but I’ll try.  _ Ever since Tord’s first day of school and Tom’s lunch detention as a result, they knew better than to get in each other’s way. They saw each other in the hallways all the time but barely exchanged words, if at all. Edd and Matt became pretty good friends with Tord, and Tom couldn’t do anything to stop that. He wondered what his friends saw in Tord that he couldn’t see, or just refused to notice.

Tom fell silent, contemplating the situation he fell into as Edd and Matt began to talk about something else. Tonight was going to be a long one.

 

 **.** **.** **.**

Tord was waiting for Edd to arrive, standing in front of the brit’s house for around ten minutes. Since he didn’t live as close to Edd and Tom and Matt did, he had his aunt drive his Norwegian ass to Edd’s house and drop him off. He didn’t mind the wait much - Tord had his thoughts to keep him company until a real person actually came.

_ I can’t believe it,  _ he thought, staring at his grey shoes.  _ I’ve been living in England for about two years now and I don’t hate it as much as I thought I would. Edd and Matt are fun to be with, as much as I’d hate to admit it. Whatever happened to being solo, Tord? _

He never thought he’d make friends with anyone. But now, three years later, he spoke English almost perfectly, and he was comfortable to laugh verbally in front of Edd and Matt. Two people wasn’t a lot of friends, but it was definitely something.

He heard laughing in the distance, and he looked up to see Edd, Matt, and Tom coming up the sidewalk. Edd waved at him, and Tord sighed. Edd had warned him of Tom’s presence, but he hadn’t prepared himself entirely quite yet.

“Hey, Edd,” Tord said, plastering a weak smile and he waved his hand.

“Hey Tord!”

“Hi there, Todd!”

“ . . . “

“Still in your robes, I see?” he chuckled nervously, trying hard to ignore the ill-mannered Tom.

Matt nodded eagerly. “I look gorgeous with this thing on! There’s no way I’m taking it off, I’ll even shower with this . . .  ”

Edd laughed and fondled with the keys for a bit until he found the right one. He opened the door and began to walk inside, with Tord holding the door to let the rest of the boys in. Tom walked in last but barely acknowledged the Norwegian. “Hey,” he mumbled, his hands shoved in his pockets and back slumped as he walked in. Tord sighed as he followed in last, closing the door behind him.

He knew Tom didn’t like him. Hell, he didn’t like what Tom did to him in fifth grade either. But he was going to put up with him, for one night. Just one night.

“Edd? Do you have a hair blower?”

“It’s in the bathroom cabinet!”

“Hope you take a bath while you’re doing that.”

Tonight was going to be a long one, wasn’t it?

**.** **.** **.**

 

Matt was soon in the shower (yes, with his robe on), Edd’s mom ordered the boys pizza, while the rest of them crashed in the living room. Tom sat on the couch uncomfortably, his head resting in his hand, trying his best not to glare at Tord.

Tord and Edd were talking about something, but he didn’t know. Or cared. But there was something that Edd said that had caught his attention.

“I just got this game last week for my birthday,” Edd said happily as he opened the case and popped out the disc with a satisfying  _ click _ .

“Woah, no way! You got  **blank** ?” Tord asked with a baffled look as he scrambled to Edd’s side, taking at the game to make sure his friend wasn’t lying. Tom’s ears perked with interest. That game wasn’t even supposed to come out till September.

“Yeah, I have an uncle who works at Gamestop, and he gets new games months before they’re released,” Edd laughed.

Tom noticed the sparkle in Tord eyes as he continued to gawk over the disc. There was some army guy with a gigantic rifle in his hands, aiming at a zombie on the cover.

No wonder he seemed to like it so much. Tom couldn’t lie though, the trailer for it seemed pretty cool. “This is beautiful!” Tord squeaked. “Let’s play it!”

The two boys quickly set up the gaming system while Tom opened the door for the delivery guy and payed for the pizza. When he turned around, Edd had two controllers in his hands.

“I already played the crap out of this game last night,” he said, “So you and Tord can play it for a little bit, I don’t mind.”

Tom began to stutter.  _ Oh, God, no.  _ “I, uh, thanks Edd, but really I’m goo-”

“Edd! Your hair blower stopped working!” Matt whined from the bathroom. Edd sighed and rolled his eyes, then shoved the controllers in Tom’s arms. “Sorry, gotta go! I’ll be back!”

Edd practically ran from the room. “Matt, whatever you do, don’t drop that hair blower in the tu - “

“AAAAHH!!”

Tom only huffed at the nuisance, and suddenly one of the controllers were yanked from his grasp. “C’mon, hurry up!” Tord said, both excited and annoyed by the hold-up. He wasn’t looking forward to playing with his enemy, but he was definitely more than ready to destroy him.

In the game, of course.

Tom grumbled and sat beside Tord, and soon they began to play the game silently. The game’s sound effects and graphics were incredible, and in no time at all the two’s fingers were uncontrollably fast over the buttons.

After about a half hour, Tom was about to lose. His resources and ammo were running short, and Tord was gaining on him fast. “No,” Tom said, before starting to yell frantically, “no no no no NO NO NOOOO!!”

Tord laughed triumphantly as the screen went black, saying: PLAYER 2 LOST. PLAYER 1 WINS. “Yes! This game is awesome!”

“How . . .  _ how _ ?” Tom was taken aback. No one had ever been able to beat him in a shooting game, not in a really long time. Tord must be a natural.

“Wow, Tom, you - you actually put up a good game,” Tord admitted. “No one has ever lasted that long with me - ”

“I’m literally out of breath, that was so intense,” Tom laughed, wiping his forehead. He suddenly realized that he was actually having a sort of a good time, even though he lost. To Tord.

Wait.

No.

HE WOULD NOT LOSE TO TORD AGAIN.

“We gotta do round two,” he declared suddenly. “Hell no. There’s no way I’m losing after ONE GAME - “

“Okay, okay,” Tord laughed, restarting the game. The second game went just as well as the last one, but this time it was a tie.

“What?!” they both said, dropping their controllers as the the screen went black again.

“No way!” Tord exclaimed, a little irritated but mostly surprised. “This is . . . I can’t believe - “

“You guys havin’ fun?” Edd asked suddenly, coming out of the bathroom with a wet hair blower and a very shaken Matt by his side.

“This Norwegian butt really knows how to play  **blank** ,” Tom said, throwing a thumb at Tord’s direction.

“I won more times than you did,” Tord teased, sticking his tongue out to the brit.

“Did not! That was a tie!”

“Doesn’t anyone care about the fact that I literally almost died in the bathroom?” Matt wheezed, his hair wrapped in a towel and the rest of him covered in a soaked graduation robe.

“He dropped the hair blower in the tub,” Edd sighed, and everyone laughed. “C’mon, let’s grab some pizza.”

**.** **.** **.**

“This pizza is delicious,” Tom mumbled around a mouthful of cheesy goodness. “It reminds me that there are still reasons to live.”

Tord laughed and took another bite, rather viciously. “We didn’t order pizza much in Norway. I was missing out.”

“This pizza isn’t good for my face, nor my figure,” Matt quipped, “but I love it too much.”

Tom and Tord had actually began to get along, and Tord was personally happy that the grudge was out of the way. It was as if it had never happened. Who knew that a few rounds of video games and a couple of pizzas could fix a years’ worth of ignorance?

But Tom managed to ruin it.

It wasn’t entirely his fault, it really wasn’t. At the time it didn’t seem like a big deal. He was just joking around, and Tord was just being defensive.

It happened after they had eaten all the pizzas. The boys sat down and watched  _ The Insane Pirate Zombies From Hell III,  _ with Tom sitting next to Tord. The four were paying attention, but they would make little comments or joke about it along the way. 

Tom had noticed that Tord had suddenly grown quiet. At first he ignored it, thinking he was probably growing tired. But soon Tom’s curiosity got the better of him and he turned to look at Tord.

He wasn’t watching the movie anymore. He was looking down at his phone, but it wasn’t a smartphone, but one of those older designs that no one had anymore.

He held a sad smile on his face. It was obvious he was reading someone’s text, but Tom had no idea who it could be. The only people he ever saw Tord talk to was Edd and Matt, and very recently Tom himself.

Trying to lift the mood a little, Tom couldn’t help but snort a little at the model of the phone. Tord looked at him with a questioning look, suspecting that he was laughing at him. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” he said, chuckling. “It’s just - your phone. I haven’t seen that brand in forever. I didn’t even know that was still around.”

He expected Tord to just laugh with him and brush it off, maybe throw and insult at him, but instead he gave Tom a harsh glare, shoved the phone in his pocket, and scoffed. “Yeah, so funny.”

_ What _ ? That wasn’t supposed to happen.  _ Let’s try that again. _

Tom should have just dropped it right then and there. But he continued.

“So who were you texting?” he teased. “Your lover from Norway?”

Tord rolled his eyes. “Ugh, just drop it already, okay? It’s nothing important, and it’s none of your business anyway.”

Edd and Matt’s attention were completely glued to the screen, totally unaware of the growing tension between the two.

Now Tom was starting to get a little offended himself. “Fine, fine, I’m sorry, alright? God, I didn’t know you were so damn touchy about privacy - “

“Well, you don’t see my face in your personal bubble, do you?” Tord growled, his voice getting a little louder. “Yelling out my business to everyone like you don’t give a shit? Were you drunk that day or something?!”

Tom froze, scared. Edd and Matt didn’t know about his drinking problem, and he didn’t want them to know either. He didn’t want them to worry over him.

_ But how did this asshole know I was drunk? _

He guessed that, at the moment, it didn’t matter. He was about to go all out. So Tord wanted to ruin the mood by bringing things from fifth grade that shouldn’t even matter anymore?

_ So be it _ . “Well at least you don’t see me drawing pathetic cartoon porn in my notebooks!”

“You take that back,” Tord hissed, standing up. “You want to go personal? At least my parents were actual human beings! At least my eyes aren’t black pits that look like they belong to the Devil!”

Edd’s ears perked at the insult and suddenly realized that an argument had been taking place. “Woah, woah, what’s wrong, guys?”

“What’s  _ wrong _ is that Tom doesn’t know how to keep his damn nose to himself,” Tord snapped as he crossed his arms.

“It’s not my fault I didn’t know you were such a sensitive pri - “

“Tom! Tord!” Edd exclaimed in disappointment. “I don’t know what happened, but let’s just forget about it and finish the movie and have a meme-off or something - “

“No way am I gonna waste anymore of my damn time in the same house as this fool.” Tord grabbed his bag that held his belongings and proceeded to walk out the door.

“Wait! Don’t you live far from here Tord?” Matt asked worriedly. “You should probably call your aunt - “

“I’m okay, Matt. I don’t mind the walk,” Tord said, waving. “Sorry things couldn’t go out as planned, but maybe next time will be better.”

The door shut, and Tord was gone, leaving Green, Blue and Purple in the living room.

“We should probably go after him,” Edd said with concern, but Tom’s voice stopped him.

‘Just forget it, Edd,” Tom said, slumped in the couch. “We shouldn’t force him to stay if he doesn’t want to. I was just jokin’ around and he got all butthurt, I swear. I wasn’t trying to start anything.”

Edd released a groan as he slumped into the couch and ran his fingers through his hair, clearly upset. “I don’t get it. You two were getting along fine earlier. Maybe something else is bothering him that we don’t know about.”

Tom, despite putting up a tough and angry front, truly felt bad - for ruining their graduation night and the sleepover that was supposed to be fun.

He even felt bad for Tord, although he didn’t know why. He blamed himself for ticking the Norwegian off, but if Tom had bothered Tord he could’ve let him know. But he just snapped at him instead.  _ Guess we’re both kinda assholes, huh? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well that's it for the first part! honestly i couldnt wait to finish it so i could start on the main story  
> I consider the first part to be some sort of giant prologue for the second part (it was supposed to be two separate works but the second part makes some minor references to this part but they aren't super serious)  
> Hope u guys enjoyed, stay tuned for part 2! :)

**Author's Note:**

> *If anyone has a request let me know in the comment section and ill try to get them done as soon as possible! Any ship is welcome but plz no furries/nsfw (i'm still trying to gather up the courage to do that im sorry) plz leave a somewhat short description on what you want the story to be about*  
> **Also if anyone wants to make fanart of whatever i write i don't mind but all i ask is that you give the credit to the author (which would be me) and send me the link so I can see it!**


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